Monday, December 14, 2015

Cuomo Looking To Create A Special Charter School District

Cuomo has also expressed interest in Buffalo, at one point calling
for a “death penalty” for schools and districts that fail to meet state
standards. Last year, he was involved in conversations about mayoral
control of the district, and was the force behind the new receivership
law that provides a mechanism for turning individual schools over to
outside entities. Some in reform circles say the law fell short by not
creating a mechanism for the state to take over entire districts.

There
is current speculation that the governor, who has enjoyed significant
financial and political support in reform circles, may be looking to
push for a charter district during the next legislative session. That
would involve turning a portion of district schools over to an outside
entity, although it is not clear whether it would be a charter school.

“One
of the things the corporate reformers would like to see is the takeover
of an entire district,” said Easton of AQE. “They want whole
districts.”

“The national and statewide politics have taken a U-turn because of pure
voter sentiment,” said David C. Bloomfield, a professor of education
leadership at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York
Graduate Center. “The astounding 20 percent opt-out rate was a wake-up
call that he had misread the electorate. It’s quite obvious that parents
who vote in great numbers are aligned with the teachers’ position.”

...

Cuomo’s evolving education message, however, carries ramifications
for other state leaders who embraced his earlier mantra, chief among
them the new state education commissioner, MaryEllen Elia, who built her
reputation on school reform.

It also could shift more focus to
struggling urban school districts such as Buffalo, where Cuomo still
could push for heavy-handed reforms, but alienate fewer voters than he
would by forcing statewide changes.

“I don’t think he has any idea
about education policy or proclivity about education policy,”
Bloomfield said. “It’s all about politics.”

Indeed it is about the politics and Cuomo has a bunch of hedge fund managers/education reformers to make happy in return for all those yummy yummy political donations they give.

He cannot abandon reform completely, though he has signaled "retreat" on some things like teacher evaluations and testing (though it remains to be seen how real that "retreat" actually - so far, Cuomo has not released his education policy proposals for the next year.)

Thus going full speed ahead on reform in a place like Buffalo, where he won't take a hit politically from the suburban moms and dads pissed off about Common Core and the Endless Testing regime, looks to be the plan for the next year or so.